1st Edition
Managing Projects in a World of People, Strategy and Change
Project management is at a crossroads: There is a pressing need to rethink the approaches used in initiating, managing and governing projects, programmes and change initiatives. The aim of this book is to progress the dialogue around project practice by shifting the focus from instrumental methods and prescriptive techniques towards a context-sensitive consideration of people, strategy and change.
Projects are initiated to deliver agreed outputs that can be translated into meaningful outcomes capable of satisfying the wishes and expectations for improvement and development. Yet, people, strategy and change, which are largely ignored by the conventional bodies of knowledge, are clearly central to the sustainable and enduring success of projects, efforts and initiatives.
The volume brings together some of the best writing by leading authorities on key topics including trust, ethics, people, psychology, requirements, project performance, audits, uncertainty, anti-fragility, strategic initiatives, governance, change management and commercial management. The collection offers an invaluable new resource for informed managers looking to engage with the latest thinking and research.
List of Figures and Tables, About the Editor, Notes on Contributors, Introduction, The challenge of change: Identifying new and improved theories for project management, Darren Dalcher, 1. Ethics, It starts with trust: People, perspectives and relationship as the building blocks for sustainable success, Darren Dalcher, The project manager as a tightrope walker: dealing ethically with all affected parties, Douglas Long and Ngaire Hunt, 2. People, What has Taylor ever done for us? Scientific and humane management reconsidered, Darren Dalcher, On the psychological aspect of management, Fred Voskoboynikov, 3.0 Requirements, A primer on project requirements management, Darren Dalcher, 4.0 Performance, Homing in on project performance, Darren Dalcher, Project performance audit – a methodology, Alexia Nalewaik, 5.0 Anti fragility, Coming to terms with the unknown: Re-invoking Knightian uncertainty, Darren Dalcher, Are projects and project managers fragile, robust or anti-fragile? Tony Bendell, 6.0 Strategic initiatives, We need to talk about strategy, Darren Dalcher, Managing strategic initiatives, Terry Cooke-Davies, 7.0 Governance, Is it time for ‘good enough’ governance? Darren Dalcher, Project governance, Martin Samphire, 8.0 Change, Who killed change? Reconsidering the relationship between projects and change, Darren Dalcher, The value of business change management in projects, Nicola Busby, 9.0 Commercial management, Commercial management and projects—a long overdue match? Darren Dalcher, Commercial project management: Expands the body of knowledge into an essential domain, Robin Hornby, Conclusion, Responding to the challenge of change, Darren Dalcher. Index
Biography
Darren Dalcher is Honorary Professor of Project Management at the University of Kent. He has written over 200 papers and book chapters and published over 30 books. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Software: Evolution and Process and of two established book series published by Routledge.
